Ullevalseter, Polli and Henrichy-Bersey win the Merzouga Rally
. By Bikeland Staff
Pal Ullevalseter wins the Merzouga Rally 2014, on the podium the beta duo Johnny Aubert and Deny Philippaerts. Oscar Polli claims the victory for the Expert category, in front of Dalla Valle and Newland
Stage 5 24 October “Extreme GP” km 141.79 SS 44,03
Today it took place the 5th and last special stage of the Merzouga Rally 2015. The Jasmina lake and the dunes of the Erg Chebbi was the background of the last stage: a spectacular ultimate Extreme GP of 28 km of pure adrenaline with the riders climbing the biggest dunes of the Erg. The Expert did one lap, while for the Pro riders the fun was double.
In the bike category, Pal Ullevaalseter who was leading the Pro classification, was able to maintain the gap in front of Johnny Aubert and Deny Philippaerts, who were respectively 2nd and 3rd in the overall classification at the end of Stage 4.
The riders took the start le Mans style, first the Pro, then the Expert and finally all the SSV.
The winner of today’s extreme GP was Pal Ullevaaseter in front of Laia Sanz and Txomin Arana in the Pro Category. For the Expert it was Arnaud Monin to win today’s stage, second Stefano Dalla Valle, third Luca Tavernari. Regarding the SSV the fastest were 230 Garrouste– 219 Duclos/Lichtleuchter – 227 Navarro-Rivera. It’s a pity for the Italian crew Tonetti-Astori, who finished second in yesterday’s stage and were doing a great race when they were involved in an incident with Munk-Delaunay. For them the race was over.
With this result Pal Ullevaalseter (KTM) claimed the victory of the 5th edition of the Merzouga Rally 2014, in front of Johnny Aubert (Beta) and Deny Philippaerts (Beta). Fourth Ondrey Klimciw (KTM). Laia Sanz, who won the Prologue and one stage (Honda), finally finished 5th.
The overall Expert classification saw Oscar Polli (KTM) on the first stage of the podium, second Stefano Dalla Valle KTM), third Andre Newland (KTM), Andrea Gaggiani (KTM), Emanuele Musazzi (KTM) complete the Top5.
In the SSV Category it’s the French crew #202 Henrichy- Bersey Polaris Team AT4R to win the 5th edition of the Merzouga Rally, second #201 Abel-Montagne Polaris Los Amigos, the winner of the 2013 edition, third #219 Duclos-Lichtleuchter Polaris XtremePlus. Fidel-Ventaja Delfi Sport and Abel-Manez finish respectively 4th and 5th.
Pro Category overall
1 18 ULLEVALSETER Pal Anders
2 16 AUBERT Johnny
3 4 PHILIPPAERTS Deny
Expert Category overall
1 96 POLLI Oscar
2 102 DALLA VALLE Stefano
3 112 NEWLAND ANDREW
SSV Overall
1 202 HENRICY F - BERSEY
2 201 ABEL ERIC MONTAGNE
3 219 DUCLOS NICOLAS LICHTLEUCTHER
Pal Ullevalseter (KTM): “I have done many rallies, but honestly I have never done such as a demanding rally in terms of navigation as this one. The route was very good and I also enjoyed the start Le Mans style, which is unusual for a rally, as well as the extreme GP of today that was like a Motocross race. Happy to have been here for the first time and great satisfaction to win”. ”.
Johnny Aubert (Beta): “I’m happy with this result. I’m back on the rally since Dakar 2012 and at the beginning it cost me in terms of navigation, but in the end everything went well. It was also a good team work with Deny and the Boano Tacing team. The feeling with the Beta Atacama is really good, in these 5 days of race we never had technical problems so now we all look forward to continue this project aiming high”.
Deny Philippaerts (Beta): “It was my debut on the rally but also on this kind of terrain. I trained before coming here but in a test you cannot replicate the navigation under race conditions as well as the dunes and the sand. It was a great experience and I think this is just the beginning...”
Laia Sanz (Honda): “It’s a pity for the 1 hour penalty that put me out from the fight for the podium, but the balance is really good. The Merzouga Rally is very demanding in terms of navigation. I have opened the track in several stages, learning a lot. The stages were demanding and there were long days, 5-6 hours almost every day. I really enjoyed today’s Extreme Grand Prix in the big dunes of the Merzouga desert”.
Henrichy – Bersey AT4R: “It’s our fifth Merzouga and year after year the rally has grown. This year we were 26 ssv at the start and a very high level f competitors. It was a hard battle and we really enjoyed it”.
Abel Montagne: “it’s our 4th Merzouga and we will be back even more competitive next year to win. ... The rally has made another important step forward and I liked a lot the route. The scenery was superb too”.